Christian attacks of Aragon and Castile(1378/1391)
In 1378 and 1391 our communities in Aragon and Castile were attacked by Christians. They dragged us out and forced us to become baptized and convert to Christianity, and if we refused they would kill us.
Spanish Inquisition of 1483
The Spanish Inquisition was formed in 1483 by Ferdinand and Isabella (king and queen of Spain) to "enforce ideological conformity in their unified realm". In the process of the Inquisition 13,000 of our conversos people were killed in the first 12 years. Some of us who were forced to convert to Christianity were officially called, conversos (converts), however the Christian people of Spain called us Marranos (pigs). Many of us were killed due to the suspicion of coaxing other conversos back to the Jewish faith.
Signing of the Edict of Expulsion (1492)
The Edict of Expulsion was signed by the monarchs of Spain on March 31,1492, after the conquering of Granada in 1492. The Edict of Expulsion forced 70,000 of our people to convert from Judaism to Christianity, and a total of 130,000 of us were forced to go into exile. 80,000 of us went to Poland, 50,000 of us exiled to North Africa and the Ottoman Empire becoming Sephardic Jews.
Polish Attacks (1648-1667)
The attacks on our people and the native Poles lasted for 19 years. The attacks were led by the cossack leader Boris Chielnicki,Throughout the attacks 100,000 of our people were killed, and 300 of our communities were destroyed.
Movement of Spanish Jews (before and after Inquisition)
Spain was not the first place we were deported from, our people have been deported countless times in Europe. Vienna and Linz (1421), Cologne (1424), Augsburg (1439), Bavaria (1442), Moravia (1454), Vicenza (1486), Parma (1488), Milan and Lucca (1489), Spain (1492), Tuscany (1494). Later we went to Poland, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. After the attacks in Poland many of us traveled to Galilee in hope of finding the messiah.
Expulsion of Jews(1100-1500 C.E.) Notice the route of expulsion from Spain!
|| =Important People= ||
Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)
Was a terrible man who was a Dominican friar from Aragon. He would continuously preach and inspire anti-Semitic riots, as well as setting up public debates between rabbis and Christians to beset Judaism.
Tomas de Torquemada (1420-1498)
Was the first Grand Inquisitor. His goal was to completely abolish the religion of Judaism in Spain.We hate this man.
Isaac Luria (1534-1572)
Was an Ashkenazic Jew who founded a new form of Kabbalah called Lurianic Kabbalah in Safed in Galilee. Many of us who had exiled from Spain believed that he was the Messiah. He said " he was so perfectly attuned to the unconscious desires and fears of his people that he was able to evolve an imaginative fiction that brought comfort and hope not only to the exiles in Safed but to Jews all over the world." Had a creation myth that the creative process started with a voluntary exile and ask question of Gods "omnipresent" (found in the Zimzum doctrine). Zimzum "withdrawal" answered the questions of creation and the act of Ein Sof " Without End" the Kabbalists Godhead.
Uriel da Costa (died 1640)
Was born into a converso family, but thought that Christianity was an oppressive and cruel system. When living in Amsterdam he began to study Jewish scriptures. While in Amsterdam he though that our lifestyle was to hard to follow so he wrote a treatise that criticized our doctrine of after life and our laws. da Costa said "he believed in only human reason and the laws of nature". Later our rabbis excommunicated him and in 1640 he shot himself in the head. Others such as Juan da Prado (excommunicated on February 14,1657) and Baruch Spinoza (excommunicated on July 27,1656) were also persecuted and forced to leave our community in Amsterdam, due to their ideas of Judaism.
Shabbetai Zevi (died September 17,1676)
Was Turkish Jew who believed a voice was telling him that he was "the Savior of Israel, the Messiah, the Son of David, and the anointed of the God of Jacob". He would have crazy mood swings, which he called "illuminations". During these illuminations he would break our holy laws and could not explain why he did this. Later he called these acts "holy sins" and was forced leave Smyrna in 1650, because we could not stand him anymore.
Culture
In many of the areas we lived in we were forced to wear distinctive dress.
Many of us lived in ghettos, a ghetto was an enclosed squalid districts surrounded by high walls and were very unsanitary.
We had an economic restriction and could only be peddlers or tailors.
Those of us who converted to Christianity were called conversos "converts" or Marranos "pigs".
Those of us who went to Muslims area were called dhimmi "protected minority".
The majority of our education at this time was the studying of our holy doctrines.
Many of us have traveled to other lands such as the Ottoman Empire and have fused our culture with theirs.
Religion
Since we are Jewish or religion is Judaism. However some of us practice Lurianic Kabbalah and and other ideas of Judaism, our religion is Judaism.
Blog
Blog Entry 1:Spain, 1483
Many of our friends are being killed. The death toll is now up to 7,000 now. I can not take this anymore; we have to live in constant fear of being the next person to be tortured. The Inquisitors are hunting for the people who are pushing the underground study of Judaism; however a good amount of the people they have killed so far are loyal conversos. This has to stop. Our people are getting slaughtered and there is nothing that we can do about it. We could leave this land but this is our home, many of us were born and grew up here, we just cant pack our things and leave. I can not understand why the Christians want us to convert so badly, even if we do convert we will still study Judaism, in secrecy. The Christians think they are doing a good thing, but in reality they are breaking their own commandments.
Blog Entry 2:March 31,1492
Today the Edict of Expulsion was signed by Ferdinand and Isabella. They looked at it as a way to keep unity but we look at it as a death sentence. Their thought of unity is keep the people that support us and practice the same religion, and kick out the people who are different. We have the choice of converting or leaving. Many of us are choosing not to because at this time the only thing our people have left is our faith. By converting we are disrespecting our ancestors who also had to deal with the pain of being exiled. The authorities are already starting to force us out of our homes, many of us do not know where to go. There has been word however that some of us have been migrating into Portugal, because King Joao II is allowing us to live there. Maybe there is hope for our people.
Blog Entry 3:Poland, 1665
We thought we had gain security in Poland, but now we are even in danger there. Today there was another attack on our community by cossacks. Thousands have already died because of these attacks and i find myself lucky to still be alive. There has been word that the cossacks have been cutting our people up, burying our women and children alive, and even giving our people guns and were commanded to shoot each other. Poland has lost all hope and sanity. I saw Boris Chielnicki today. He came into are community with his soldiers. When i looked into his eyes i could see that this man had no soul and his body was run on pure hatred towards our kind. Even though i knew what this man has done he did not scare me.
|| ==The Wall== ||
- Thanks guys, we really appreciate the praise. We just a bunch a people who are trying to restore the Zionist vision in our people. We hope that one day our goal will be achieved. Also we would like to give you encouragement in what you are doing as well. You are being persecuted and tortured and many of you still have stuck with your Jewish faith, and that is extremely admirable. Keep on keepn' on and never give up.
Peace in the Middle East Gush Emunim
Bibliography
Information:
Armstrong, Karen. The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism(New York: Ballantine Publishing Group 2000)
Judaism in Spain between 1300-1700 C.E.
Flag or Spain
Friends
JudaismPoland
Ottomans (at one point)
Portuguese (at one point)
Historical Highlights
Christian attacks of Aragon and Castile(1378/1391)
In 1378 and 1391 our communities in Aragon and Castile were attacked by Christians. They dragged us out and forced us to become baptized and convert to Christianity, and if we refused they would kill us.Spanish Inquisition of 1483
The Spanish Inquisition was formed in 1483 by Ferdinand and Isabella (king and queen of Spain) to "enforce ideological conformity in their unified realm". In the process of the Inquisition 13,000 of our conversos people were killed in the first 12 years. Some of us who were forced to convert to Christianity were officially called, conversos (converts), however the Christian people of Spain called us Marranos (pigs). Many of us were killed due to the suspicion of coaxing other conversos back to the Jewish faith.Signing of the Edict of Expulsion (1492)
The Edict of Expulsion was signed by the monarchs of Spain on March 31,1492, after the conquering of Granada in 1492. The Edict of Expulsion forced 70,000 of our people to convert from Judaism to Christianity, and a total of 130,000 of us were forced to go into exile. 80,000 of us went to Poland, 50,000 of us exiled to North Africa and the Ottoman Empire becoming Sephardic Jews.Polish Attacks (1648-1667)
The attacks on our people and the native Poles lasted for 19 years. The attacks were led by the cossack leader Boris Chielnicki,Throughout the attacks 100,000 of our people were killed, and 300 of our communities were destroyed.Movement of Spanish Jews (before and after Inquisition)
Spain was not the first place we were deported from, our people have been deported countless times in Europe. Vienna and Linz (1421), Cologne (1424), Augsburg (1439), Bavaria (1442), Moravia (1454), Vicenza (1486), Parma (1488), Milan and Lucca (1489), Spain (1492), Tuscany (1494). Later we went to Poland, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. After the attacks in Poland many of us traveled to Galilee in hope of finding the messiah.|| =Important People= ||
Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)
Was a terrible man who was a Dominican friar from Aragon. He would continuously preach and inspire anti-Semitic riots, as well as setting up public debates between rabbis and Christians to beset Judaism.Tomas de Torquemada (1420-1498)
Was the first Grand Inquisitor. His goal was to completely abolish the religion of Judaism in Spain.We hate this man.Isaac Luria (1534-1572)
Was an Ashkenazic Jew who founded a new form of Kabbalah called Lurianic Kabbalah in Safed in Galilee. Many of us who had exiled from Spain believed that he was the Messiah. He said " he was so perfectly attuned to the unconscious desires and fears of his people that he was able to evolve an imaginative fiction that brought comfort and hope not only to the exiles in Safed but to Jews all over the world." Had a creation myth that the creative process started with a voluntary exile and ask question of Gods "omnipresent" (found in the Zimzum doctrine). Zimzum "withdrawal" answered the questions of creation and the act of Ein Sof " Without End" the Kabbalists Godhead.Uriel da Costa (died 1640)
Was born into a converso family, but thought that Christianity was an oppressive and cruel system. When living in Amsterdam he began to study Jewish scriptures. While in Amsterdam he though that our lifestyle was to hard to follow so he wrote a treatise that criticized our doctrine of after life and our laws. da Costa said "he believed in only human reason and the laws of nature". Later our rabbis excommunicated him and in 1640 he shot himself in the head. Others such as Juan da Prado (excommunicated on February 14,1657) and Baruch Spinoza (excommunicated on July 27,1656) were also persecuted and forced to leave our community in Amsterdam, due to their ideas of Judaism.Shabbetai Zevi (died September 17,1676)
Was Turkish Jew who believed a voice was telling him that he was "the Savior of Israel, the Messiah, the Son of David, and the anointed of the God of Jacob". He would have crazy mood swings, which he called "illuminations". During these illuminations he would break our holy laws and could not explain why he did this. Later he called these acts "holy sins" and was forced leave Smyrna in 1650, because we could not stand him anymore.Culture
Religion
Since we are Jewish or religion is Judaism. However some of us practice Lurianic Kabbalah and and other ideas of Judaism, our religion is Judaism.Blog
Blog Entry 1:Spain, 1483
Many of our friends are being killed. The death toll is now up to 7,000 now. I can not take this anymore; we have to live in constant fear of being the next person to be tortured. The Inquisitors are hunting for the people who are pushing the underground study of Judaism; however a good amount of the people they have killed so far are loyal conversos. This has to stop. Our people are getting slaughtered and there is nothing that we can do about it. We could leave this land but this is our home, many of us were born and grew up here, we just cant pack our things and leave. I can not understand why the Christians want us to convert so badly, even if we do convert we will still study Judaism, in secrecy. The Christians think they are doing a good thing, but in reality they are breaking their own commandments.Blog Entry 2:March 31,1492
Today the Edict of Expulsion was signed by Ferdinand and Isabella. They looked at it as a way to keep unity but we look at it as a death sentence. Their thought of unity is keep the people that support us and practice the same religion, and kick out the people who are different. We have the choice of converting or leaving. Many of us are choosing not to because at this time the only thing our people have left is our faith. By converting we are disrespecting our ancestors who also had to deal with the pain of being exiled. The authorities are already starting to force us out of our homes, many of us do not know where to go. There has been word however that some of us have been migrating into Portugal, because King Joao II is allowing us to live there. Maybe there is hope for our people.Blog Entry 3:Poland, 1665
We thought we had gain security in Poland, but now we are even in danger there. Today there was another attack on our community by cossacks. Thousands have already died because of these attacks and i find myself lucky to still be alive. There has been word that the cossacks have been cutting our people up, burying our women and children alive, and even giving our people guns and were commanded to shoot each other. Poland has lost all hope and sanity. I saw Boris Chielnicki today. He came into are community with his soldiers. When i looked into his eyes i could see that this man had no soul and his body was run on pure hatred towards our kind. Even though i knew what this man has done he did not scare me.|| ==The Wall== ||
- Thanks guys, we really appreciate the praise. We just a bunch a people who are trying to restore the Zionist vision in our people. We hope that one day our goal will be achieved. Also we would like to give you encouragement in what you are doing as well. You are being persecuted and tortured and many of you still have stuck with your Jewish faith, and that is extremely admirable. Keep on keepn' on and never give up.Peace in the Middle East
Gush Emunim
Bibliography
Information:Armstrong, Karen. The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism(New York: Ballantine Publishing Group 2000)
Images: (in order)
http://faqs.org/docs/factbook/flags/sp-lgflag.gif
http://www.geocities.com/turkel.geo/expuls.gif
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/16/98/22209816.jpg